There’s a country lane near the kids school that I often walk down which sings with the calls of a Yellowhammer. It’s a distinctive call and stands out against all others. It’s high pitched and seems that the bird is saying “little-bit-of-butter-no-cheeeeese!” – the last note being quite long.

I don’t often see them but always hear them at this time of year. One did pop out of hiding last week so I had a chance to stop, watch and appreciate him – definitely a him: brilliant yellow head, throat and belly. Females are less brightly coloured and juveniles duller and more difficult to see. They’re about the size of a sparrow.

The females make their nests at the bottom of hedges and lay a clutch of 3-5 eggs. These are whitish with a dark brown marbling-like pattern giving them the old names of ‘scribble lark ‘ or ‘writing lark’. They are part of the ‘bunting’ family of birds and this is where they get their name – ‘ammer’ means ‘bunting’ in German. Quite a few birds of this family have brightly coloured markings so I wonder if this relates the name to the bunting we hang up for decoration.

Although they may be seen across most of the British Isles except the higher mountainous areas, their numbers are declining and they’re currently on the Red List for Birds and protected in the UK. We need to plant more hedges and widen the existing hedges to encourage numbers to rise again. It would be a shame to lose these birds singing about butter and cheese (though I can’t agree with them on that one – butter and cheese for me please! #dairyfarmersdaughter!).

A lovely book to read if you like to know a bit about birds but can’t be doing with lots of facts is ‘Tweet of the Day: A year of Britain’s birds’ by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss. Just the right amount of information to identify them and some interesting facts. There is also a BBC Radio 4 programme of the same name.

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